THE NATIONAL Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) will focus its attention on five areas to support Thailand 4.0 scheme.

Sarun Sumriddetchkajorn, director of Nectec said that the agency next year will focus on five areas: agriculture, smart manufacturing and services industries, health and medicine, energy and environment, and education, including lifelong education and learning.

For agriculture, the agency has developed a Food and Agriculture Revolution model, a “smart farm” solution to support the country’s farmers. The smart farm will focus on technology, management and application to increase on-farm production and help to reduce costs, while also upgrading agricultural standards to fit the digital economy.

In the area of smart manufacturing and services industries, the agency will utilise innovation and technology to support machine monitoring systems, and production-line health monitoring systems, in order to maintain performance and support efficiency.

It can closely monitor data indicating the state and performance of the machines, and so help to reduce machinery maintenance costs. The monitoring could also improve energy management for different sections of the production line, thus contributing to high productivity in the manufacturing sector.

The agency works with the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board and the Digital Economy and Society Ministry to develop data integration of poverty analytics. The resulting data about basic social welfare needs is integrated with other relevant data and processed through big data analytics, data integration, global positioning and network and graph analysis to help find optimal policies to improve the quality of life for the nation’s people.

For health and medicine, the agency will focus on developing a personal health record system, an information technology system able to enhance the efficiency of provincial health services. The system will also facilitate management of health data interfaces with immediate interchangeable standards in a precise and quick manner. It would allow users to access the system via tablets and smart devices, and for doctors to send feedback to the clinic.

The agency also developed an e-referral system in Bangkok and metropolitan areas in order to transfer patient treatment data between community medical clinics and the main hospitals, so that doctors could carry on treatment for patients who are moving between facilities.

Meanwhile in the area of energy and the environment, the agency has partnered to develop energy analytics systems to monitor electricity demand, and to analyse and design energy management ranging from the energy consumed by individuals to the use of renewable energy, including energy preservation and enhancement of energy usage. The agency will also develop and set up EV charging stations in order to increase public confidence in the use of these vehicles.

Addressing the area of lifetime edu-cation and learning, the agency is developing massive open online courses and open education resources to support and improve the education sector. It will provide KidBright, a board developed to stimulate the potential of systematic and creative thinking among children through a learn-and-play method. The board is equipped with a display and simple sensors that operate in compliance with the function commands. The learners can design and create the block-structured programming commands via an application on their smartphones.

Nectec’s Sarun noted the agency’s researcher teams would work together with partners under the concept of “practical research, springboard innovation.” The concept will guide them as they utilise research findings, technology, knowledge and digital innovation to produce new services and products to support and promote business growth, create added value, and bring in new income.

The result, said Sarun, would be sustainable social and economic development within the country. In doing so, it will also conduct research that will help make choices that become a significant springboard to uplifting the country into a Thailand 4.0 future.

Last year, the agency enjoyed success in developing new innovation and technology in five main areas: big data and analytics, image processing and optical imaging, machine learning, CT scans and X-rays, as well as reluctance motors and switches. It developed over 286 prototypes and provided 398 papers.

“Science, technology, research and innovation can be important tools to develop the country in various dimensions,” said Sarun. “It would improve the quality of life for Thai people as a whole and drive the country’s Thailand 4.0 scheme.”